Anywhere else in the world this building would be magnificent. However, jammed in so closely to its four siblings all the detail on the building seems out of place. It should either be toned down to match the other buildings or they should go with a radically different glass color to differentiate it from the others.

I tend to agree. It IS a nice design, but right next to 4 WTC it might seem too busy and overly detailed.

LOOK OUT THERE: 3 WTC, which Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein says will be a corporate dream, will contain a three-story high lobby with glass walls.

By TOM TOPOUSIS
May 4, 2007

Here's the first look at the dramatic three-story lobby slated for World Trade Center Tower 3, with its glass-walled atrium overlooking a new section of Greenwich Street and the Santiago Calatrava- designed rail station just to the north.

Tower 3, which is being designed by British architect Richard Rogers, is one of three towers slated for the eastern edge of the World Trade Center, between Church Street and what will be a newly reopened section of Greenwich Street.

"It's a massive building with 2.4 million square feet of office space," said Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein.

"At 1,155 feet tall, it has 40,000-square-foot floors in the tower and four floors with over 50,000-square- foot trading floors in the base."

Silverstein envisions Tower 3, also known as 175 Greenwich St., as a corporate headquarters because of its large trading floors that are coveted by financial firms.

Of the three towers Silverstein is building between Church and Greenwich streets, Tower 2 and Tower 3 will have trading floors. Tower 4, at the southeastern corner of the site, will host the Port Authority, city government and private tenants.

"They will be magnificent buildings, and they will be at the forefront of technological capability," Silverstein said, explaining that each architect is world renowned.

Norman Foster is designing Tower 2, and Fumihiko Maki is the architect behind Tower 4. Design and engineering teams for all three architects have been working side by side in a 10th-floor center at Silverstein's 7 World Trade Center.

"We're moving totally on schedule, and every benchmark has been accomplished," he said of the design work that is now 50 percent complete. Silverstein said he expects final designs for all three buildings to be done by July 1.

Under a deal worked out with the Port Authority and the governors of New York and New Jersey last year, Silverstein agreed to give up control of the Freedom Tower and a fifth tower slated for a site just a block south of the World Trade Center campus.

As part of the deal, the Port Authority agreed to complete the construction of a 70-foot-deep slurry wall around Silverstein's building site, along with excavation of the site, by the end of the year. The developer, in turn, has agreed to finish his towers by 2012.

Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said the excavation and slurry-wall construction is on track to be completed in December.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

When I first discovered the new renderings for the towers that were to be built at the site, this one really stole my heart! I think it is simply amazing, and I think the spot it's in is perfect for it. The completion of new WTC is really going to be one of the highlights of my age groups lifetime!

When I first discovered the new renderings for the towers that were to be built at the site, this one really stole my heart! I think it is simply amazing, and I think the spot it's in is perfect for it. The completion of new WTC is really going to be one of the highlights of my age groups lifetime!

We're all witnessing something special. Years from now we will look back and remember how lucky we were to have watched it rise.

Even Tower 3, at 1,155 ft (1,255 ft) seems dwarfed by Freedom Tower and Tower 2 from that angle...

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

We are so damn lucky to have got we we did as the final design. Seeing those first two sent chills up my spine. To think there was a good chance one of those would have been it. All the credit in the world goes to the NYPD.

You can say what you want abot the new FT's concrete base, but if it weren't for that.......well you get the picture. A small (very small) price to pay if you ask me. And even that is not so bad. Again, We Are Fortunate!!!!!

__________________"I'm going there, but I like it here wherever it is.."

I think this "collaborative" version of the Freedom Tower looked the stupid-est.

We are forever indebted to the NYPD. They are definitely the finest.

I think the difference between the this and the final FT version is the fact there have been no domestic terrorist incidents since 9/11. Let's hope that stays forever the case... but at the very least, until present plans are completed. I'm afraid if another major US building is destroyed somewhere in the next 12 months or so, we'll have to bid the present spectacular plans a fond adieu...

No doubt about it: Libeskind's vision is being realized to a far, far greater degree than anyone could have predicted when his plan was first adopted.

The FT at 1,776 feet with a symbolic "SoL" referencing-spire, the ascending swirl of towers... not to mention that 2 WTC looks a lot like one of his "placeholders!" The memorial is where he wanted it, and while it's (mercifully) not just an open pit, there nevertheless WILL be underground chambers leading down to the very foundations of the slurry wall, like he envisioned. Why - even his vision of giant waterfalls will be realized! Who would have foreseen that?

Libeskind has every reason to be satisfied with the final outcome, except perhaps for having wanted to design a building or two himself... nevetheless, his vision will be realized.

I think this "collaborative" version of the Freedom Tower looked the stupid-est.

We'll call that one the Pataki Tower. After all, it was his wisdom that produced that design. Looking at it - and the spire - now, you realize how ridiculous it was. Pataki should have been run out of the country.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

I think the difference between the this and the final FT version is the fact there have been no domestic terrorist incidents since 9/11. Let's hope that stays forever the case... but at the very least, until present plans are completed. I'm afraid if another major US building is destroyed somewhere in the next 12 months or so, we'll have to bid the present spectacular plans a fond adieu...

The terrorist attack, while responsible, didn't directly destroy the Twin Towers. You'll never see another attack like that, and even if you did, the likelihood of the tower(s) collapsing like the Twin Towers is low.

People need to keep in mind that skyscrapers aren't the only possible terrorists targets. In fact, they are not even the most vulnerable to attack. Imagine an attack on one of the city's tunnels, bridges, subways, commuter stations, stadiums, etc. Skyscrapers are more restricted than those public spaces.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.